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HIV Vaccine Research

MHRP is dedicated to developing a safe and globally effective HIV vaccine to protect our Armed Forces wherever they may be deployed. In 2009, MHRP announced findings from its landmark “Thai Study,” RV144, the first clinical trial to show a vaccine regimen was safe and modestly effective in preventing HIV infection.

RV144 continues to inform the vaccine field, and our researchers play a critical role in this work. A new efficacy study based on the RV144 vaccine regimen began in November 2016 in South Africa, led by NIAID/NIH with MHRP as a collaborator.

The Program continues to pursue several other vaccine strategies in the U.S., East Africa, and Thailand. In addition to building on the success of RV144, MHRP is testing a next-generation MVA vaccine candidate, producing a GP145 vaccine and developing a novel combination HIV-heroin vaccine.

Our partner sites in Thailand and Uganda participated in a Phase II trial of a next generation Ad26/protein vaccine candidate, called the APPROACH trial, aimed at global protection from HIV. This studied showed promising immune responses and helped lead to a new efficacy study that HVTN launched in 2017 called Imbokodo. The study vaccines are Ad26.Mos4.HIV (Ad26 vaccine) and Clade C gp140 (protein vaccine),which are produced by Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. MHRP helped lead the initial animal studies that enabled the pathway to this vaccine efficacy study, and our team continues as collaborators on the Imbokodo team.

MHRP researchers are also developing and testing novel vaccine strategies, including new adjuvants and improved protein constructs aimed at subtype B, which is common in the Americas, West and Central Europe, Australia, South America and Thailand. New clinical trial sites and partnerships are in development for future HIV vaccine studies in Germany.